When Bobby Talks
by Phx
Summary: Bobby Singer is a man of few words, but when he talks, you'd better listen. Tag for Lucifer Rising. 2nd chapter added. Dean and Sam talk.
1. Chapter 1

_Set after Lucifer Rising. Thank you Red Hardy for the wonderful beta. I tinkered a bit after she finished and since I have been throwing up all day, take pity on my errears :P I hope you like - let me know!_

**When Bobby Talks**

"You know," Bobby Singer started slowly, as he leaned against the open door frame and watched Sam shuffle away from the house and towards the wrecks. The kid's shoulders were hunched, his hands jammed in his pockets. "I've been thinking…"

Dean, standing on the edge of the stairs, was also watching his brother leave. It was habit to them by now that after Sam ate he'd disappear for hours, shelved away among the old cars in the junkyard. The older Winchester cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the man standing behind him. Bobby was obviously waiting for him to say something. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Okay, so Bobby was going to make him work for this. Dean rolled his eyes and gave the older hunter his full attention. "Yeah. And what?"

Bobby met his gaze steadily. "That it's a good thing it was Sam who killed Lilith."

"What?" Dean was shocked and stalked towards the other man. "Bobby? _What?_ Sam killing that bitch is what released Lucifer. It started the whole damn apocalypse! How exactly is that _good_?"

"I didn't say _it_ was good," Bobby refused to back down. "I said it was a good thing it was _Sam_ who did it."

"Oh yeah?" Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bobby was practically a father to them. "And how exactly do you figure that?'

"Well because," the older man started slowly, "one way or the other, both Heaven and Hell wanted this… so if it _wasn't_ Sam who did it, it just would have been someone else… and we'd still have the Devil on the loose and a whole lot of mess to clean up."

Dean chewed the thought around for a bit but knew he was missing something. "So _that_ makes it _good_ that it was Sam then?"

"Hell, yeah," Bobby was adamant. "Just think for a second will'ya? Let's say that you never made the deal."

_Sam dying in his arms. Dead, cold, spread out on a dirty mattress_. Dean paled and shook his head to clear the image. His brother was alive. Sam was, well maybe safe wasn't the right word, but definitely alive. The other man, seemingly oblivious, carried on, thankfully skipping over the most obvious effect of Dean never going to the Crossroads.

"Then Jake _still_ would have opened the Devil's Gate but we wouldn't have been there to close it as quickly as we did."

"So there'd be a whole lot more demons on the go." Dean was following so far but still skeptical how any of this could be good.

"Yes and Lilith still would have needed to be the final seal except it'd be Jake who killed her, not your brother."

Dean swallowed hard; any time Bobby wanted to get to the 'good' part would be fine with him.

"But see, here's the difference, well one of them anyways," Bobby mumbled the last part under his breath but continued before the younger hunter could question him on it. "Jake ain't your brother, he ain't anywhere near the caliber of the man… We saw that when he stabbed Sam in the back after Sam spared his life. So do you think Jake would be hell bent for leather to put Lucifer back in his cage afterwards when he realized what he'd done? Or do you think Jake would have opened his arms for the Devil and accepted whatever tainted gifts the beast offered?"

Dean didn't have to say anything; they both knew the answer.

"So, personally, I'd rather have _Sam_ break that damn last seal then some other hyped up super-kid backing the wrong team and eager to cut his teeth on our ribs… wouldn't you? We don't need any more enemies on that front."

Dean had never looked at things like that… He chewed his lip in consideration.

"Dean?"

Turning towards where his brother had gone, knowing that he could no longer see him, Dean still drew comfort from the impression of the younger man's boot prints in the dust, showing him clearly the path Sam had taken.

"So that's good?" he hedged after a moment, desperate for this assurance. He wanted so badly to believe there could be something good, something that they could start to rebuild from, in all this… could this be it? That it was Sam, _Sammy_, who started the apocalypse instead of Jake?

Bobby didn't answer him right away but his words spoke truth. "You'd still have gone to hell, Dean, just a whole lot sooner." Dean's frame of mind after Sam's death allowed him one of two choices: a deal for his brother's life or a bullet to end his own.

"And I still would have broken the first seal," Dean admitted, not enjoying some truths.

"No," Bobby's denial was vehement, startling Dean. "No, you wouldn't have."

The implication shook the younger man. His gaze dropped. Suicide was not righteous.

"So… in this screwed up circle of things, yeah, it was _good_."

Dean snorted bitterly and shook his head. Yeah that was pretty screwed up… He looked again towards the path his brother had taken and then back at Bobby.

"Do you think it might be enough?" Dean asked quietly thinking of the shadow of a man his brother had become. "For him?" They both knew he was talking about Sam.

"No," Bobby admitted, his tone laced with regret. "But," he added, "it might just be enough to help him get his head back above water."

Dean nodded and slowly started to move down the stairs. He had a little brother he needed to talk to. "It just might be…" He stopped and shot Bobby an appreciative smirk. "You know, for a guy who doesn't like to talk? You do okay."

Bobby snorted and then turned to go inside but not before his words had Dean chuckling and trotting away.

"_When Bobby talks, boy, you damn well better listen...."_

The End


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, so apparently a second chapter was needed. Thank you, Sheila, for telling me it didn't completely suck and thank you, Alaina, for your awesome beta and support. I have to admit I wasn't sure about this one. Anyway I know this is not how it is going to go, but I can wish and in my world it would. _

**When Bobby Talks**

**Chapter 2**

"He's possessed."

Dean had found his brother hidden away among the wrecks, his long body pressed up against the husk of an old truck, arms folded across his chest, haggard face staring out over the metallic wasteland. Sam had barely given Dean much more than a cursory glance when the older man stopped in front of him and started talking. Dean had told his brother about Bobby's silver lining, pleased that Sam heard him out but caught off guard by the dismissive response. "Huh?"

"It's insane."

"How?"

"Because what I did – that was _bad_, Dean, horrific! Nothing good about it."

"I never said it wasn't. Shit, Sam, I'm not saying you didn't screw up, 'cause you did, BIG time, I'm just saying that if anyone was going to mess up, it was good that it was you."

"Do you have any idea how warped that sounds? Geez, Dean…"

"Uh, yeah, gotta say, I kinda do."

"Dean…" Sam sighed and turned away.

"Can't you even try to see it?"

"Well, yeah, I can, but I won't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because. This. Is. My. Fault. If I hadn't been so – so-"

"So what? Like… _Dad_?"

"Yeah, exactly so like _Dad_, things wouldn't have gone this way!"

"Heh." Dean leaned against the old wreck next to his brother, mirrored his pose and stared out over the dead cars, absently wondering exactly what Sam was looking for out here. "So have you figured it out yet?"

"Figured out what?"

"Figured out how you could have changed things?"

"Well, yeah…" Sam sighed in frustration. "No, not really. Every time I play something else out, I always end up back here. Seems to be a Ruby behind every door… That is if I didn't get myself killed first." He gave a self-deprecating shrug. "'Though that might have been my better move."

The muscle in Dean's jaw ticked but he let the comment go. Sam already knew how he felt about that. "Can I ask you something then?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Why are you still beating yourself up over it? Especially when you got me to do it so wonderfully for you?" It was a prompt disguised as a poke.

"Because, Dean, I really thought – I really _believed_ – that what I was doing was right. That it was only me I was risking… and that was something I was willing to risk. Me. Just me. Not the world and certainly not…" _you_.

Sam didn't finish his thought, he didn't have to.

"And it just felt _so_ good, to finally be the one kicking ass instead of having my ass kicked, you know? And I just kept thinking that, in the end, if I pushed hard enough, if I fought strong enough… it would be worth it. That you'd look at me and see I was right. Just for this once. That what I did made a difference. That I could the hero…"

Dean swallowed the lump that formed in the back of his throat. "The hero, huh?

Sam looked at him then nodded and looked away. "Yeah… pretty lame, huh?" He sighed heavily. "I did come to one conclusion though."

"Only one?"

"I suck at being the big brother."

The admission was said so honestly and so sadly that Dean couldn't help but laugh. The sound burst from deep within his soul and his eyes burned with its intensity.

Sam gave him a hurt look and Dean fought to reign in his laughter, not really even sure what he was finding so funny. Finally, once he was sure he was composed enough, he nudged his brother in the shoulder. "Well, of course you do." His brother started to move away but Dean snagged his arm. "Just like I sucked at being a little brother. All that emo crap? Seriously, dude, how do you even get up in the morning?"

"Dean…"

"Bro, just listen to me, okay, for a second-" he held up his finger when Sam opened his mouth to protest, "and actually hear me this time, okay?"

Sam's lips pursed. Dean noticed them quiver.

"It's not my place to tell you how badly you screwed up. You already know that and if you didn't then I'd really have something to worry about. But if the way you're tearing yourself up about all this is any indicator, you got that part down pat. Lesson learned." Sam's eyes shone and Dean continued. In order to win this battle, Dean needed his partner back, not this shadow of a man crippled by guilt and neutered by insecurity. "The problem you're having is figuring out how to move on. But Sammy, dude, man, bro… if you _can't_ find something good, something positive, to take away from this, then I'm terrified that when the final curtain call comes, it's not going to be on Lucifer." Dean paused and swallowed hard, "it's going to come down on us. On me."

"Dean…"

"Just try, okay? Think about what I said. Well, really about what Bobby said." Exhausted from trying to breathe life into his brother, he finally just laid it out. Screw the subterfuge. "I don't want to fight this one without my wing man."

Sam stared at him. Dean hated that he had no idea what was going on behind the tumultuous hazel gaze. And then Sam deadpanned. "I thought that was Castiel?"

Dean huffed out a surprised sound but Sam was smiling when he said it and for Dean that was enough. He smirked. "C'mon bro, how can I 'Win' without 'Chester'?"

Now Sam laughed, a flash of white teeth and deep dimples. It was infectious and for a precious moment they were just brothers sharing a laugh and nothing else.

And then that moment passed…

"Are you sure you want me at your back?" Sam asked.

"You sure that's where you want to stand?" Dean challenged.

Sam's gaze skimmed the wrecks again looking for God only knew what and then he shook his head. "No," he admitted. "I don't."

Dean closed his eyes –

"I want to stand beside you… as your brother."

Dean opened his eyes and looked at the young man standing beside him. "Are you ready for that?" he asked honestly knowing self-doubt was a plague.

"No," Sam admitted honestly and then straightened up and looked Dean firmly in the eyes. "But I will be."

And that was enough for Dean. They still had a long way to go but with hands held out towards one another, instead of trying to hold back, he was sure they'd kick hell's ass.

"Okay," he tipped his head. "Okay."

The Real End This time


End file.
